Simultaneous air pickup and delivery system



Dec. 30, 1947. R. a. COTTON SIMUL'iANEOUS AIR PICKUP AND DELIVERY SYSTEMFiled March 28, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. E0652? 5., CorToA/Dec. 30, 1947. R. B. COTTON R PICKUP AND DELIVERY SYSTEM 6 sheets sheet2 SIMULTANEOUS AI Filed March 28, 1946 F/EQZ' INVENTOR. F05EZT 5. C07-To/\/ Dec. 30, 1947. R.- B. COTTON SIMULTANEOUS AIR PICKUP AND DELIVERYSYSTEM I Filed March 28 1946 s Sheets-Sheet a INVENTOR. F0552? 5 607-TO/\/.

H/s A T TOZA/EY Dec. 30, 1947. Y R. ByCOTTON- 2,433,437

SIMULTANEOUS AIR PICKUP AND DELIVERY SYSTEM I Filed March 28, 1946 6Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. ZO5EZ75 COTTOA/ 1 1-1/5 41 7'0 ENE 5 D 1947? YR. B. COTTON SIMULTANEOUS AIR PICKUP AND DELIVERY SYSTEM Filed March 28,1946 e Shets-Sheet 5 I INVENTOR. @5527. 5. 60Tr0/1/ Dec. 30, 1947, R. B.COTTON 7 SIMULTANEOUS AIR PICKUP AND DELIVERYSYSIEM I Filed March 28,1946 6 Sheets-Sheet I INVENTOR. 1 Foaezr B. Carr-0 Patented Dec. 30,1947 SIMULTANEOUS AIR PICKUP AND DELIVERY SYSTEM Robert B. Cotton,

All American Aviation,

Lansdowne, Pa., assignor to Inc., Wilmington, Del.,

a corporation of Delaware Application March 28, 1946, Serial No. 657,871g 9 Claims. 1

This invention relates to air pick-up and is concerned primarily withthe provision of simultaneous pick-up and delivery operations.

At the present time the art of air pick-up is well established andrecognized as a thing accomplished. There is at least one air line whichhas been making regularly scheduled runs over established routes since1939 and these operations are essentially air pick-up, i. e., mail ispicked up from the ground without stopping and other mail is deliveredby being dropped from the aircraft. In accordance with what is nowrecognized as conventional practice, a container encasing the mail to bedropped at any particular location is trailed at the end of a line anappreciable distance back from the fuselage as the aircraft comes in tomake a pick-up. At what the flight mechanic determines to be the propertime, this container is released and drops to the ground just before thepick-up is made. There are certain undesirable features which attendthis practice and which are intended to be obviated by the claimedinvention.

In the first place it is impossible if not highly impractical to achieveeven a fair degree of accuracy in the delivery. The container mighteventually wind up at some spot over a wide area. This, of course.requires the use of a fairly large plot where the ground station iserected to accommodate this inaccurate delivery.

In the second place, the container when it is released from the aircrafthas a velocity substantially equal to that of the aircraft. Thus, whenit strikes the ground it is subjected to severe shocks and jars whichtend to damage the container and seriously shorten its service life.

With these conditions in mind this invention has in View as its foremostobjective the provision of new and improved apparatus for delivering acontainer from a moving aircraft to a desired location on the groundwith a high degree of accuracy. Moreover, this delivery apparatusincludes means for neutralizing the forward speed of the aircraft whichis imparted to the container before the latter strikes the ground.

In carrying out this idea in a practical embodiment the inventionproposes the use of a ground station ofiering a loop for engagement withcontact means on the aircraft and which contact means is connected tothe container bein delivered. This loop is operatively connected to anenergy absorbing unit which is substantially the equivalent of a pick-upunit which is included in the aircraft for the pick-up operation.

A further object of the invention is the pro- .and if throughinadvertance contact arm and slide down to meet the bill of vision ofapparatus designed particularly to effect simultaneously air pick-up anddelivery operations. In achieving this object the aircraft performingthe operationis provided with the usual pick-up unit and a pair ofcontact arms.

Detachably carried at the end of one of these arms is a hook which isconnected to a line wound on the winch of the pick-up unit. Detachablycarried at the extremity of the other arm is a hook that is connected bya line with the container to be delivered. A pair of ground stations arearranged in side by side relation so that the loops held in erected edfor substantially simultaneous engagement by the pick-up arms. One ofthese loops is connected by a leader to the container which is to bepicked up while the other loop is connected to a line that is taken upon the winch of the ground based delivery unit.

When the plane comes in the arms engage the loops together. Both hooksare pulled from the arms. This causes the container to be delivered tobe pulled from the aircraft and this operation takes place under thecontrol of the ground based delivery unit. At the same time the otherhook is pulled from its contact arm and connects the container to bepicked up with the pick-up unit on the aircraft.

A somewhat more detailed objective of the invention is the provision ofan aircraft including a chute which is adapted to receive a containerbeing delivered and which chute includes means for yieldably retaining acontainer therein.

While it is believed that the span of the loops of the ground stationare sufiiciently wide and the contact arms on the aircraft may be spacedsufliciently far apart to render extremely remote the possibility of thepick-up arm engaging the delivery loop, yet in the interest of abundantprecaution the invention has as a further object the provision ofapparatus of the character above described which is designed topositively preclude the possibility of effecting a connection betweenthe hook of the pick-up apparatus and the loop of the delivery system.In attaining this end the loop of the delivery system has a diameterappreciably greater than the loop of the pick-up system. The contact armand pick-up hook are so arranged as to provide just suificient clearancefor the small pick-up loop to enter between the bill of the pick-up hookand the arm and effect the connection. A line of greater diameter suchas the delivery loop will not enter this clearance it should engage theposition thereby are adapt the pick-up hook, it will merely knock thehook olT the arm but will not effect the connection.

A pick-up operation is ordinarily made from a fairly low altitude. Ifthe container is delivered from an aircraft making the pick-up itordinarily will not fall any distance sufilciently great to Cause hhre ih e da a e- Mee oi h m e and wear and tear on the unit. However, theinvention has in view as a further object the provision of apparatus ofthe type indicated which includes means for neutralizing orcounteracting the gravity action to which jected in being delivered.idea in a practical embodiment, the line which is taken up on thedelivery unit is rendered effective at a point spaced above the ground.This spacing is comparable to the height of the top ply and may beestablished f e he e n wi h P o r eehtr of e br kin hst um hehtiee of hd l ry ni th dewhwe d fel f th h eiher m y be he t t ehe tim t at. its.erwerd vee lo it e de l retedv The e an ther mo e e aile e ieet anddventa es he. h e ti n will i par e e ehpe lht nd n hart be h eihaiterta ed a th deee hti h of th invent hroeeedeinvent on th r fere omp isesanpare w for simultaneously effecting air. pick-up and del ry opeations. This apparatus. is charac r-- d. as in ludinga pai Qf g u d,stat ns fie h leehe e ted side i i e e it e l n a ir f. hteet ar on t e:r a aki he i k-up nd delivery he Wh eh arms are a pted to engage saidloops. A pick-up unit is included in the aircraft and a line includ dtherein is GO!)- nected to. a hack on the pick-up arm. The con: tamer tohe de ivered is r ...dabl re ai in h te n th e te ie t e hheeted to a ho and is detaehe b r he e en. th de iv ry arm.- The we eliv hhi loop.

r t ll the mere ee h l t hh eret h ihe of the v h eh refer c that. hehad te -t follow e dee r h ieh. and. 'eeeehlhehy e d a ng wherein:

Figure 1 ea earv ew ew h a a r r f about to mak simul an us ieh-h j d deiv r ehe n. a ee dehee w th he p e e ts f this invention.

Figure 2 a. r e tiv view loo in ore from one, Slide showing the sameoperation.

Figure 3 isaview in side elevation somewhat diagrammatic, showing threlation of the air: craft to, the. ground station 3 beiore. contact.

F gu e t eh ideview Similar to Figure 3 show? ing the relation of the,various components immediately after contact.-

.Eigure 5 'is another side view to Figures 3. and 4 developing a furtherstage or simultae. neouspickeup. and delivery.

Figure 6, is still anothg side view similar to Figures 3, 4;, and 5depicting. a later stage. of the simultaneous operations,

Figure 7. is a perspective view or a ground sta; tion bringing out a.modification in which the r h d ba ed. e i er n t s; ra s d hem e q dlle re' a a. en p ea new et the e tere t wi h,

qiiheet d o he de very tele atieh ef th ou th del very c u s parts ofthe fuselage broken away to bring out the location and construction ofthe chute for the container to be delivered.

Figure 9 is a side view partly in section and partly in elevation of thefuselage with parts of Figure 10 is an enlarged detailed view of thedelivery chute per se. This view is taken as a section through the chutewith the container shown elevation.

Figure 11 is an enlarged detailed view in side end of the pick-up armand heels ha ried tthhe v a Elgar-e 12 is a similar view of the outerend of the d ve amt Referring now to the drawings wherein like referencecharacters denote corresponding parts and first, more particularly toFigures 1 and 2, an aircraft such as adapted for air pick-.up operatoinfits entirety by the ref r nce Thi air a ma e o n of the. mod s. ocons u o s whic a e suitable to a'r pick-up usage. The aircraft A elu sa fu e age H whi h hou a k li un h eeted n d e lines at I! in F ure 8, Rde. 1 ni s su h as tha p e ented at u are h Wel -known As g d illustation 0,1? such h e u unit efe ence i en s t lumm h, Ne 2373413 and2,333,414. both dated rii 10J 1 5 The fusela also c es as that show a ln F g re wi l he no ed hat ch l t2 and op n e erdlr 9 or iii'in Figure8.

of. the fusela e- Referring now more particularly to Figures 1, and 2, apair of contact arms are shown at 14; and 15 respectively. These armsmay be connected at the top by a common yoke or framework Ill which ispreferablyhingedly mounted on the underside of the fuselage Ill, The.particular manner in which the yoke 16, and. arms [4 and 15 carriedthereby are hingedlymounted is not an important part oi this invention.All that is rev-i quired is that the arms be susceptible of beingwithdrawn or retracted from the depending Qpelf: e ve pe t eh- O i uslthis is sar d ring landing and taking off and in order to mini! mizewind resistance. the. arms are lowered in the operativeposition onlywhen a pick-up, and deivery oper t n is to h a e.

a c ar eehstructi h of th e h aet a ms [4 and 15 are also not a part ofthis invention, Contact arms I nc ud a a k. ith W eh ee e ay be l p or th ie i un and e ry eh et o e- Ih arm; '4- ie; id ified as th e h hh emah a s ew r or ree r mi yea i s at o e s The hook l1 detachabl held inposition on the, arm (4. in the manner illustrated and described in theabove identified Plum-iner patents. A line- 8. ha s nt o th e, eheehheet d t t e e H and this line passes through an opening into, the.interior of on the I l. v

heels '9' e ihh er h meuhted o he euteh e e nd at h arm (5; and,- a lne 1. h neeh l he ted hi heeh t oth r e d he ed e ei er'te he del ve e sme at e at 21." Y

hef th ng QQWmQ E hali eh ehwte Fi ure .0.

th te e t hhe e-is whe 1 -h 29 is common to the two.

positioned in the and identified invits entirety by the referencecharacter C. This container has a rounded nose.

22 which carries the connection 2| in the form of an eye. Regardless ofthe particular location of the chute as depicted in either Figure 8 or 9the container C is yieldably held in position within the chute by thedetents 23. There is preferably a detent 23 on each side of the chute inopposed relation. Each detent comprises acasing 23 that is attached tothe wall of the chute and which encloses a rod 25 that is slidablymounted in the casing. The inner end of the rod 25 carries a shoe 26which is shaped to conform to the curvature of the nose 22. A spring 21yieldably urges the shoe 26 against the nose. It is evident that when asufficient pull is exerted on the line 23, the nose 22 may be drawn pastthe shoes 23 retracting the latter against the influence of the springs21 thereby withdrawing the container from the chute.

Referring now again more particularly to Figures 1 and 2, a pick-upground station is designated generally G1 while the delivery groundstation is designated G2. The ground station Gi comprises poles 28 and29 which hold in an erected position a pick-up loop 30. The groundstation G2 comprises poles 29 and 3| which hold in an erected position adelivery loop 32. Each of the ground stations G1 and G2 takenindividually present no invention. Ground stations of this general typeare now well-known. One such ground station is illustrated and describedin the patent to Plummer, No. 2,367,607, January 16, 1945, andsubstantially the same type of ground station is depicted in the patentto Ballard, No. 2,369,518, February 13, 1945. The novel feature of theground stations G1 and G2 is that the pole It will be noted that the topply of the loops 30 and 32 is held in position by releasable clipsindicated at 33.

A container to be this container is connected to the loop 30 by theconnection shown at 35. A ground based delivery unit is shown at 36. Theunit 36 includes a line 31 which is connected to the loop 32. The unit;

33 is preferably a duplicate of the unit H which is mounted in theaircraft A. For the purposes of this specification the details ofconstruction of the unit I I needs here not be described. Either of theunits shown in the first two Plummer pat-v ents herein identified may beemployed as the ground based unit 36. It suffices to point .out thatsuch a unit includes a winch on which line 31 is taken up, brakinginstrumentalities asso-.

ciated with the winch, and time delay mechanism for controllingapplication of the brakes.

Operation In describing the hereinbefore discussed, it will be assumedthat the contact arms I4 and i are lowered into effective positions withthe hooks l1 and 19 de--' tachably held in position on the extremities,of the arms. The container C to be delivered is delivery chute andyieldably held therein by the detents 23. The ground stations G1 and G2are erected and the container 34 to be picked up is connected to theloop 30.

As the pilot brings the aircraft in to make the simultaneous pick-up anddelivery, the arms i4 and I5 engage the top plies of the loops 30 and 32respectively. These top plies slide down picked up is shown at 34 andvoperation of the apparatus arms and engage the hooks l1. and I9 respectively. 1 i

The relative positions 'just before engagement is brought out in Figure3. As the loop 30 pulls the hook l1 free of the arm Hi, the line H!together with the loop 30 are straightened out and the unit I I isbrought into operation to gradually accelerate the container 34 to thespeed of the aircraft. At the same time the loop 32 pulls the hook l9free of the arm l5 and straightens out the line 23. As this line becomestaut it pulls the container C from the delivery chute and the groundbased unit 36 is brought into operation to gradually decelerate thecontainer C from they speed of the aircraft and bring it to a stop. Asthe flight is continued the flight mechanic may operate the unit H in awell-known manner to reel in line 18 and bring the container 3 1 up intoa position in which it may be drawn into the aircraft.

First modification age. Referring now more particularly to Figures 11and 12, it will be noted that the pick-up hook i'i includes abilldiameter of the pick-up loop 30 such as shown at 4B. The pick-up loop 32has a greater diameter as shown at 4! in Figure 12. The bill 42 of thedelivery hook i3 provides a clearance 43 which accommodates this largerdiameter loop; However, if the large diameterloop ll should Secondmodification Referring now more the braking instrumentalities which areincluded in the unit 36 are rendered effective to neutralize orcounteract gravity action which causes the container to fall. Thus, notonly is the forward or lateral velocity of the container graduallydiminished, but the larger part of its fall under gravity action isarrested before the container strikes the ground.

While preferred specific embodiments of the invention are hereinbeforeset forth, it is to be clearly understood that the invention is not tobe limited to the exact constructions illustrated and described becausevarious modifications of these details may be provided in putting theinvention into practice within the purview of the the appended claims.

having the delivery loop connected to the pick-up line with resultingdam- 38 which is spaced from the arm M to provide a clearance 39. Thisclear-- ance 33 is just great enough to accommodate the- 39 is notsufficiently the means whichfis intended forconnectionwith the loopcmmected toisaid olojeetto be picked up.

2. 'In aair :pick upland delivery apparatus, the combination :or r

to one of said loops, and anv energy absorbing nit oneratively connectedto the other "of said loops.

3. In air pick-up and delivery apparatus, the combination of'anaircrait,a pick-up unit on said aircraft, -a delivery chute on said aircraft, Ian o bjest to be delivered in .saidchutameans for yield. ablymaintaining said object in said. chute, a pair of contact arms hingedlymounted on said air: raitiinrside by sidelposition, a pielnuplhookdotachablymounted to theifiyee end ofone of said a ms, a lineoperatively 2 connecting aid Pick-mp hook. with, said pick up unit,, adelivery hook de-- tachably earried-at theifree extremity of the otherof 'saidrarms aline connecting said delivery hook said object to bedelivered, apair of ground stations inside by side position, each ofsaid ground stations including a Ioopheld in spread osition bytherespective: station and adapted to be engaged by one of said hooks,an object to-be picked up connected tothe 100p adapted for engagement bysaid pick-uphookyand an energy absorbing unit operatively connectedtothe loop intended foriengagement with said delivery hook.

4. In air delivery apparatusrthe combination of an aircraft including adelivery chute. means for yieldingly' etaimng-an object to be deliveredin said chute, -a contact arm on-saidairorait, a. hook detachablycarried at theireeend of said am, a line having :one nd connectedtosaid-hook nd the. other end adapted iorconnection teen obi et insaidchute, aground stationincludineanorected loop, said l p beingadapted.for n agement by: said :liook, and an energy absorbing unit. onerativelyconnectedto said loop.

5. Air delivery apparatus comprising an air. craft, :a, delivery chuteinsaid aircraft :open'ing: rearwardly thereof, an object vto "bedelivered said chute, means for yieldably retainingssaldom gagementbysaid contact armand .hook, and an energy absorbing iunit connected tosaid loop.

6. Air delivery apparatus comprising an aircraft, aniobject .to he:deliveredonsaid aircraft,

a ground station including a loopin erected position, means on saidaircraft :for efiecting a conneotion between said object and said loop,anenergy absorbing unit, said energy aabsorhingunit :to. :said loopandren-v d'enng said unit efiectiveat apointspaced above 2 ground stationincluding aloop in erected position energy absorbingunitto saidloon-andmeans-for supporting saidiine at aheight substantially the same as theheight of said .top ply whereby said energy absorbing unit is :renderedefiective to counteract thegravityaction of said object :as it 3}} isdelivered.

:8. Air deliveryapparatus. comprisinga supporting structure including :aplatformin upraised position, an energy absorbing unit on said plat,

a line connecting said loop-to said unit, anairretaining saidobjectinsaidchute, a. contact-arm depending from said aircraft an-dadapted toen- 40 gagesaid loop, arhook detachably mounted at the pick-uploop, a line' connecting said hookto said pick-up unit, a delivery armdepending from said 69 aircraft, a delivery hook'detachably mounted onprovide clearance forreceivingsald delivery loop, an object to bedeliveredon said-aircraft, and a line connecting said object 'to bedelivered with said delivery hook.

'ROB-ERT B. COTTUN.

